Nephilim
by Madcap Minstrel
Summary: One-Shot. Aeris and Sephiroth deal with yet more issues that having partial Seraphim for children bring.


**Nephilim**

Aeris pressed her hand against her six-year-old daughter's forehead, checking her temperature. Not satisfied, she turned her hand around, pressing the back of her hand against it. After alternating a couple more times, she felt satisfied.

"Do I still have a fever?" Remielle "Remi" Crescent-Valentine asked as she sat up in bed. Her back itched, as it always did whenever she had an infection. Still, she held off on scratching it, knowing it would only make things worse.

"A little, but it's going down," her mother answered, "Do you want some more lotion for your back?"

Remi nodded. Aeris pulled out a vial and opened it, pouring some of the liquid onto her hand. She then pocketed the vial with her other hand and lifted up Remi's tank top so she could spread the lotion on the little girl's back.

Sephiroth came into the bedroom, followed by their pet wolf Balthazar. "How are you feeling?" he asked his daughter while the wolf circled the bed and sniffed around worriedly.

"Okay," Remi sighed as she pulled the bottom of her shirt back down. She then reached over and pet Balthazar's head. The animal's ears lay flat against his head as he whined. "Good boy, Balthazar…"

"He's been worried about you," Sephiroth remarked as he ruffled his daughter's silver hair. "He's been pestering me to let him inside."

Balthazar immediately jumped on the bed and began sniffing Remi, though somehow knowing not to go near her back.

Aeris' first impulse was to immediately order the wolf off, but when she saw him lie down and put his head in Remi's lap, she couldn't bring herself to scold the pet.

"Just this once…" she said warningly as she "booped" the wolf's nose, which wrinkled slightly as his tongue darted out, attempting to lick Aeris' finger in a half-hearted retaliation.

"Good boy!" Remi said again before leaning over and kissing the wolf on the top of his head. Balthazar responded by whining and licking her face, causing the little girl to giggle.

The calm scene was suddenly interrupted by Malkut walking in, howling at the top of his lungs.

"What happened?" Aeris asked as she went over to her three-year-old son, immediately looking him over for any visible injury.

"I scratch my face!" Malkut wailed as his mother picked him up.

"Looks like it's already healed though," Sephiroth remarked, wishing Aeris wouldn't coddle the kids so much when they were injured.

_"If you keep doting on her like that..." _he remembered his mother-in-law saying to her husband nearly thirty years ago, _"...Aeris won't grow up to be strong!"_ Clearly Aeris was taking after her father in that regard. Then again, whenever one of the kids got sick, she'd inevitably turn into a softy with _all_ of the kids.

"NOT FAIR!" Malkut howled, right in his mother's ear.

"What's not fair, sweetie?" Aeris winced.

"I always scratch!" Malkut sobbed, "Not fair!"

Sephiroth sighed. Malkut had been born with claws. It seemed to be a side-effect of second-generation Seraph hybrids, or "Nephilim", as the were typically known as. While demi-Seraphim like Sephiroth could mostly "shift" their strange appearances away (such as Sephiroth's single wing), a Naphil's unique features were always permanent. Sometimes this could cause problems, such as Remi's wing, which had little tissue, and no feeling according to Remi. This left her wide open for infections, like the one she was suffering right now.

Thankfully Malkut's claws were retractable, so his birth hadn't caused any internal damage for Aeris. However, when he was a couple months old, his claws had begun to protract randomly, and since then, he often accidentally injured himself, his siblings, and even his own parents. Now that he was a little older, he could retract and draw his claws at will. Unfortunately, he still had the occasional accident.

"It _isn't_ fair," Remi agreed, "I get sick all the time now. Grandma was supposed to take me to the park with Rockie yesterday, but I had a fever instead! Rockie never gets sick like that!" Rakael "Rockie" Gast was the younger daughter of Professor Gast and Ifalna, and Aeris' kid sister.

"You can go to the park when you're all better," Aeris reassured her daughter. She then looked at Malkut. "Maybe we should get you special gloves like Daddy has?"

The toddler's eyes lit up. "Like Daddy?"

Sephiroth smirked. He had worn fireproof gloves since he was a pre-teen. Stressful situations often caused his hands to combust, and he worried about causing an accidental fire. Professor Gast had gotten him his first set of industrial strength black gloves to contain any potential infernos that Sephiroth's hands might cause.

"That makes sense," he said thoughtfully. "We could get a pair that would contain his claws as he continues learning how to control them. Something that isn't easily pierced, but still flexible material so he can move his fingers easily."

"We won't find that on _this _planet," Aeris said as she sat down at Remi's desk. "Guess we'll be doing some online shopping and paying the ridiculous shipping costs from Ivalice…"

Nine-year-old Keter walked into the bedroom. "We're going to Ivalice?" he asked excitedly.

"No, we're just going to order something from there," Aeris said. She proceeded to explain to her eldest son what happened with Malkut and their plan to help him.

"Glad I don't have something that hurts me," Keter boasted as he pulled his shirt collar to the side, showing off one of his gills.

"You do _too!_" Remi argued, "Those only work in rivers and ponds! We can't even go to Junon 'cause Mom and Dad are too scared you'll fall in the ocean and get poisoned to death! And you have to put those plastic seals on your neck when you shower so the soap and shampoo don't make you sick!"

Keter's expression immediately turned sulky. "So what?" he groused, "The ocean smells bad anyway!"

"All right, time to let your sister rest," Sephiroth announced before Keter and Remi could start fighting.

"You're just jealous I don't need to hold my breath in the lake!" Keter added as he left the room.

"That's enough, Keter," Aeris said patiently as she carried Malkut out of the room.

"I get gubs like Daddy!" Malkut cheered.

"Yes, Mal, just like Daddy…"

"Balthazar, _off!_" Sephiroth ordered the wolf.

"No…!" Remi whined, hugging the animal close. "Can't he nap with me?"

Sephiroth sighed.

"Please, Daddy…?" Remi looked up at her father, her jade eyes wide and innocent.

That was all it took for Sephiroth. He was hopeless when it came to his only daughter.

"Fine," he relented, "but we're not going to make this a habit. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Daddy…" Remi replied sweetly. She then blew her father a kiss.

Sephiroth fought a smile as he also left his daughter's room.

"Oh, by the way, Seph…"

He saw Aeris standing in the hallway by herself.

"Hmm?"

His wife smiled coyly as she placed her hands on her stomach meaningfully. "We have another one on the way…"

Sephiroth's eyes widened uncharacteristically.

"Don't look so surprised…" Aeris admonished him playfully. She then glanced around to make sure the kids weren't in earshot before continuing: "Every day twice a day? I'm surprised we went this long between Mal and this one..."

"You didn't even have morning sickness this time around," Sephiroth remarked.

Aeris shrugged and walked back toward her study.

Sephiroth continued to stand in the hallway, dumbfounded at the news. He also couldn't help but wonder what genetic surprises _this_ child would have... Gills? Wings? A tail? Claws? Perhaps this one would have fangs or tentacles instead of legs. He then wondered if his friends had a much easier time with their own children…?

…Hell, who was he kidding? Sephiroth knew he wouldn't trade his life for anything.

_If there's a hell,_ he thought, _I hope Hojo's being forced to watch his greatest achievement living a semi-mundane life, unable to do a damned thing to the kids…_

Content with that thought, he wondered if there was a way to get Keter, Aleph and Malkut out of the house while Remi napped (thank the gods she was a heavy sleeper). Making love twice a day? Today was _definitely_ worth a third time…

Fighting off a lecherous smirk, he took out his PHS and began to look through his contacts, wondering which of them would be up for an impromptu play date.


End file.
